The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have, at least in modern times, been known for their discipline when it comes to talking. But of late, they have been talking and talking ... and talking, sometimes more than doubling the amount of time allotted for oral arguments.
On paper, the arguments are not different in length than in decades gone by. In most cases, each side is allotted a half hour, or in some cases five minutes more; in extraordinary cases, where there are multiple major issues, or multiple consolidate cases, the court will, on occasion, allocate more time.
